The electricity grid operators of the three Baltic countries on Tuesday officially notified Russia and Belarus that they will exit a 2001 agreement that has kept Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania connected to an electricity transmission system controlled by Moscow.

The electricity grid operators of the three Baltic countries on Tuesday officially notified Russia and Belarus that they will exit a 2001 agreement that has kept Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania connected to an electricity transmission system controlled by Moscow.

  • Bluetreefrog@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    The Eastern Bloc suffered an enormous drop in living quality following the dissolution of the USSR. Far from reaping a bounty via free market liberty, the people in these countries found themselves the subject of a historic privatization and looting of national treasuries and resources.

    This is a black and white perspective. You have to keep in mind that citizens of these countries were significantly worse off as (involuntarily) being part of the USSR than the countries that were not in the Eastern Bloc, and most of them are now significantly better off as part of the EU. Most citizens remember the repression, shortages, and russification all too well.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      You have to keep in mind that citizens of these countries were significantly worse off as (involuntarily) being part of the USSR than the countries that were not in the Eastern Bloc

      Which citizens? Migrants have been flooding out of the Eastern Bloc for decades.

      And what does “voluntary” membership in the EU look like when you’ve got five years of riots that can only be quelled by tanks in the streets?